Tuesday, March 01, 2011

CNN / CNN Digital February Numbers

CNN has sent out their numbers for February. Their press release is below.

CNN Press Release:IN FEBRUARY CNN GROWS 55% IN M-F PRIMETIME COMPARED TO A YEAR AGO, THE MOST OF ANY CABLE NEWS NETWORK; CNN OVERTAKES MSNBC AT 10 PM AND IN TOTAL DAY; Piers Morgan Tonight is Up 50% vs. a Year Ago; John King, USA Has Best Month Since Launch; FNC has Double Digit Declines throughout February; TRAFFIC TO CNN.com WAS UP GLOBALLY 10% YEAR OVER YEAR

CNN

During the month of February, CNN had the most growth of any cable news network in M-F primetime compared to a year ago, increasing an impressive +55% in the key demo 25-54 (243k vs. 157k) while MSNBC grew only +8% (265k vs. 246k) and FNC lost viewers, decreasing -14% (575k vs. 666k). In total viewers, CNN also had most growth in primetime increasing +31% (766k vs. 583k) vs. a year ago, MSNBC grew +18% (995k vs. 842k) and FNC declined -12% (2.322m vs. 2.649m).

In addition, CNN’S AC 360 overtook MSNBC at 10 pm in February and CNN topped MSNBC in total day in the demo 25-54 and among total viewers for the first time since June 2010. In total day, CNN posted 159k in the key demo 25-54, an increase of +19% from last year (134k) and averaged 484k in total viewers, a rise of +3% (468k). MSNBC placed third in total day in the demo (146k) and in total viewers (450k).

Throughout each hour of primetime (M-F), CNN posted big gains compared to a year ago. While CNN overtook MSNBC at 10 pm, the network significantly narrowed the gap with MSNBC at 8 pm and 9 pm compared to 4th quarter averages. FNC had double digit declines throughout primetime.

At 10 pm:

Anderson Cooper topped MSNBC at 10 pm for the first time since June 2010, with AC 360 averaging 305k compared to MSNBC The Ed Show’s 234k in the demo 25-54. In total viewers, Cooper also topped Ed Schultz with 855k vs. MSNBC’s 827k.

AC 360 is also up +55% in total viewers compared to a year ago (855k vs. 550k), MSNBC is up +53% and FNC is down -12%.

During the 4th quarter, the demo gap between AC 360 (205k) and MSNBC (258k) was -8% -- today, Cooper (305k) has overtaken The Ed Show (234k) with a +30% advantage (data does not include MSNBC Investigates/Lock Up episodes when that programming aired on Fridays at 10 pm).

At 9 pm:

Piers Morgan Tonight is up +50% in the demo 25-54 compared to a year ago (237k vs. 158k), growing more than MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow who is up +39% (302k vs. 217k), while FNC’s Hannity is down -10% (559k vs. 620k).

Piers Morgan is also up +21% in total viewers compared to a year ago (812k vs. 672k), MSNBC is up +34% and Hannity is off -11%.

During the 4th quarter, the demo gap between CNN’s Larry King (169k) and Maddow (285k) was -41% -- today, the gap between Piers Morgan (237k) and Maddow (302k) is just -22%.Launch-to-date (January 17-February 25) Piers Morgan is averaging 235k in the key demo (an increase of +28%) and 787k in total viewers, up +11% compared to the same period a year ago.

At 8 pm:

In February, CNN was up +27% in the demo 25-54 compared to the same period a year ago (186k vs. 146k), while MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell was down -9% compared to Keith Olbermann during the same period last year (235k vs. 258k). FNC’s O’Reilly was also down -14% vs. a year ago (775k vs. 906k).

CNN is also up +20% in total viewers compared to a year ago (631k vs. 527k), O’Donnell is up just +7% and O’Reilly is down -12%.

During the 4th quarter, the gap between CNN (135k) and Keith Olbermann (286k) was -53% in the demo -- today, the gap between CNN at 8 pm (186k) vs. Lawrence O'Donnell (235k) is now just -21%.

At 7 pm, John King, USA is also up in February, increasing +20% in the demo 25-54 (177k vs. 148k) compared to a year ago. This represents King’s best month since launch (March 2010) with 559k in total viewers; up 28% vs. January.

At 5 pm, CNN’s Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer increased +43% in the demo (196k vs. 137k) and +9% in total viewers (714k vs.653k) compared to last year. FNC’s Glenn Beck is experiencing big declines compared to a year ago – decreasing -32% in the key demo 25-54 (513k vs. 753k) and has declined -26% in total viewers (2.084m vs. 2.833m). In addition, the Situation Room at 6 pm is up +43% in the demo (199k vs. 139k) and increased +13% in total viewers (647k vs. 574k), while FNC’s Bret Baier declined -12% in the demo (468k vs. 533k) and is off -11% in total viewers vs. a year ago (2.206m vs.2.469m).

In February, CNN topped MSNBC during the daytime (9am-5pm) in both the key demo 25-54 and among total viewers. In head-to-head comparisons with MSNBC’s daytime non-opinion programming CNN more than doubled (+108%) MSNBC in the key demo (173k vs. 83k) and held a 60% lead in total viewers (589k vs. 367k). MSNBC trailed CNN every hour during the daytime in the demo and total viewers.

CNN reached a cumulative audience of 91.0 million viewers in February, FNC lagged behind with 79.8 million and MSNBC averaged 76.1 million.

CNN Digital:

In February, traffic to CNN.com was up globally 10% year over year.

- Breaking News: The revolutions in Egypt and Libya drove traffic to CNN.com.- During the first three days of Feb. traffic to CNN.com increased 17% daily over the prior 4-week average.- Libya coverage also boosted traffic. On Mon., Feb. 21st, traffic to CNN.com was up 55% over the prior 4-Sunday average and up 6% over the last holiday-Monday’s traffic (January 17, 2011).

[Source: Omniture Site Catalyst, Domestic and International. Year-over-year claim based on average daily for February 1-27 compared to last year’s average daily for the same time period.]

- Video: Total global video starts (VOD + Live) were up by 30% and live video starts were up by 20% over 4Q10 levels largely as a result of video related to the revolutions in Egypt and Libya.[Source: Omniture Site Catalyst, Domestic and International. Comparisons based on average daily data for February 1-27 and average daily for Oct.1-Dec.31, 2010 for Q410.]

- Features: Feature content also helped drive traffic to CNN.com in Feb., with several sections showing double-digit percentage gains over last Feb.

- Tech increased by 18% with nearly 1 million page views per day during the month.

- Opinion increased 51% with half a million page views per day.

- Health increased 46% with 860 thousand daily page views.

- Living increased 66% with 800 thousand page views per day.

- Blog Traffic: Altogether, blog traffic in Feb. accounted for 97 million page views. Joining This Just In and the Political Ticker in the top five were The Marquee (Entertainment), The Chart (Health) and Belief Blog (religion).

- Belief Blog increased 130% over last month’s performance due to a story about Chick-fil-A with 900 thousand page views and a high-school wrestler refusing to wrestle a female with 603 thousand page views.

[Source: Omniture SiteCatalyst, Domestic and International. Note: Year-ago comparisons were not possible for the Belief Blog as it had not launched yet. All month-end data for February 2011 is based on average daily for February 1-27, 2011 and is compared to time periods with data expressed in a comparable manner. Blog traffic cumulative total for month through 3 p.m. February 28, 2011]

8 Comments:

Anonymous said...

CNN needs to stop making their professionaljournalists look stupid like Jon Stewart saysand take the news more seriously for theirratings to beat FNC & MSNBC. Too often CNNlooks like a really bad local newscasts with noresources to do the news so they use gimmicks.

CNN needs to concentrate on news and content.There is too much noise on the network thesedays.HRC is right Al Jazeera is growing in theUnited States because it is real news. You wouldthink CNN understands this more than the others.

CNN needs to hire professional journalists.Carol Costello was very unprofessional today.She actually joked about President Obamabeing born in America.It is unprofessionaland CNN needs to get rid of her.

Neither CNN or HLN are news channels anymore.News does not matter.CNN promotes crime andentertainment and no news.It would be great ifAl Jazeera gets wider range. Not long ago therewas an event with David Carr and Jeff Bewkes.Someone asked him about real reporting fromAl Jazeera and the non reporting on CNN. Hetook offense claiming CNN is dong news. Doeshe know that CNN has more promos for PiersMorgan and Eliot Spitzer than actual news shows.CNN is not standing up for the news and viewersknow it.

It is shameful what CNN is doing to thecareer of Suzanne Malveaux. She is a seasoned,experienced journalist.

Why can't she be like Mika,Andrea Mitchelland Rachel Maddow ? She is smart and has skills.Yet CNN makes sure her 2 hr Newsroom is theworse. This is not the norm for Kyra Phillips &Brooke Baldwin. So why are they doing this toa highly experienced female journalist. I seenothing wrong with the trivia news questionsrelated to what she is talking about duringthe hour or the text the news if it is on 1 daylike Friday. I really don't understand why shehas to have Carol Costello on for her 2 hredition of the News Room. She subbed onTSR, yet CNN does not think she can handle2 hrs in the morning. Carol Costello was notjoking. She claimed she was joking afterbeing called out by Paul saying don't gothere. She is joking about as much as MikeHuckabee.CNN does not want SuzanneMalveaux to be successful and it shows.

I am impressed by 360 lately. Last nightAnderson was tweeting live during theshow. Finally, they understand social media.It is live on the internet, not meant to beread on tv. That makes it outdated. Eachnight there should be someone on the 360staff on Twitter, Facebook & the blog liveas the show is on air. That is a way for 360to get to 1 million plus viewers. Connectwith people live for the full hour. Have them react to what they are seeing on the show while they are watching.360must have someone responding to theirviewers. Talk to your customers and interact with them. That is what socialmedia is all about.

I like the improvements CNN has made since the Egyptian crisis started.CNN now has the real journalist from CNN International sharing anchoring duties. The journalist from the international side are far more than mere news readers. They have actually been out in the field and can actually anchor without a teleprompter.